New Zealand has announced the most comprehensive measures to tackle climate change and will push to increase sales of electric vehicles.
The small country has ambitions to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and expects 30 percent of its light vehicles to be all-electric by 2035. New Zealand’s goal is to reduce the total number of kilometers driven by light vehicles by 20 per cent. 13 years to come.
As part of the plan, the New Zealand government will allocate NZ $ 569 million ($ 357 million) to a trial program to help low-income families opt for hybrid or all-electric alternatives to their old combustion engine vehicles. Details of this plan will be finalized in the coming months.
Read more: Battery-electric car sales accounted for 6% of global car sales last year
Transport Minister Michael Wood has revealed that NZ 1.2 billion ($ 757 million) has been allocated for the country’s plans to make the transportation sector more environmentally friendly. This will include the deployment of green bus fleets, improved cycleways and walkways, and more frequent trains.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement that “this is a turning point in our transition to a future of low emissions.” “We have all seen recent reports of rising sea levels and their effects in New Zealand. We can’t leave until it’s too late to fix the problem of climate change. “
The government has further confirmed that it will increase investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure and provide a clean vehicle concession to encourage low-emission vehicle purchases.
Rod Carr, chairman of the Climate Change Commission, said: Guardian The plan to subsidize the purchase of new EVs is a good idea but needs to be well designed
“As evidence abroad, I realized that scrap schemes, as implemented abroad, were a relatively expensive way to reduce emissions,” he said. “But it depends entirely on how they are targeted and who benefits and what they are used for.”
